Napkin-folding machine



Oct. 1, 1929.- T. N. DELIGIANES ET AL NAPKIN FOLDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 22, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet l A'ITORNEY Oct- 1, 192 T. N. DELIGIANES ET AL NAPKIN FOLDING MACHINE Filed Sept 22, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 DES INVENTOR A'rroRNEy Oct. 1, 1929.

T. N. DELIGIANES ET AL NAPKIN FOLDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 22, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR AITORN EY Oct; 1, 1-929. T N. DELIGIANES ET A 1,729,998

NAPKIN FOLDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 22. 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 A1TORNEY Oct. 1, 1929.- T. N. DELIGIANES ET AL 1,729,998 NAPKIN FOLDING: MACHINE- Filed Sept. 22, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 76 75 73M DEL/ /a/vs INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Get. 1, 1929 mass THOMAS N. DELIGIANES AND ANDREAS A. BOURDES,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ATS- SIGNOR$, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO GEORGE I). ANTHOULIS, OF GARY, INDIANA NAPKIII-FOLDING MACHINE Application filed September 22, 1822. Serial No. 589,834.

lhis invention relates to a. napkin folding machine, and an object of the invention is toprovide a machine which will take napkin or crepe paper from a roll, and in a continuous movement fold, cut, count and discharge the napkins, ready for bundling or for use.

Another object of this invention is to provide a machine as specified, which embodies a pair of pulling rollers adapted to pull the paper over the creasing members and through certain of the folding roller structures, and then delivering the folded strips of paper into a suitable guide and to a suitable knife which will cut the paper in napkin length, and also to provide endless belts cooperating with said pulling rollers for delivering the paper fro-m the pulling rollers to the knife, which belts may be tensioned as necessary.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel construction of napkin receiver for receiving the napkins after they have received their final fold, which receiver deposits the napkins one at a time upon a suitable stack, which stack is moved into discharge position upon the accumulation of a predetermined number therein.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine as specified in which the operation and return of the various parts to their normal positions are automatic, eliminating manual operation of the machine and thereby permitting a single operator to care for a battery of the machines if desired.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the followin detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a top plan of the machine.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the machine on an enlarged scale from. that shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. l-is a detail vertical section taken on the line 44lof Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a detail vertical section taken on the line 55 of Fig 1.

Fig. 6 is a detail section on the line 66 of Fig. 3.

improved Fig. 7 is a detail the napkin take off Fig. 8 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig 3.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 99 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 1010 of Fig 3.

Fig. 11 is a detail view showing one of the napkin engaging fingers or arms.

Referring more particularly to-the drawings, the improved napkin folding machine comprises a main supporting frame 1 which has a roller 2 at one'end thereof which is adapted to carry a roll of paper from which paper napkins are formed. The. paper passes from the roller 2 over the initial folding platform 3 which is similar to the folding platforms used in newspaper folding ma]- chines, and is more particularly described and illustrated in my companion application filed April 1, 1922, initial folding platform 3 the paper passes between a pair of folding rollers l-which are positioned at the apexes of the folding or creasing platform 3. A second folding or creasing platform 5 is positioned for gauging and guiding the paper as it issues from between the rollers and it creases the paper parallel to the direction in which it is creased by the platform3, delivering the paper to the folding rollers 6 from which the paper issues upon the final creasing platform"? The paper is given its final fold or crease longitudinally of the napkin formation, or longitudinally of the strip of paper by the platform 7 and the pulling rollers 8 and 9 respectively. The pulling rollers 8 and 9 are rotatably carried by suitable bearings 10 and they are mounted upon a shaft 11 for rotation by said shaft. The rollers 8 and 9, are preferably channeled as indicated at 12, in Fig. 2

of the drawings, and endless pulling belts 13 pass about these pulling rollers and about rollers 14. Suitable tensioning rollers 15 en gage the belts 13 and are carried by adjustably mounted arms 16, the position of which arms may be regulated by the loosening or :tightening of the cap screws 17 for regulating Serial No. 519,534. Fromthe I times for cutting the paper slide 21.

' folding rollers 29 shaft 23 through shape for use.

the tension of the belts 13. The inner runs of the belts travel in parallelism and in close proximity one to the other, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings for gripping the folded strip of paper and delivering it into the substantially U shaped guide structure 18 which is of sufficient width to properly engage the folded strip of paper and guide it outwardly between the stationary knife blade 19 and the movable knife blade 20. These knife blades 19 and 20 are positioned between the rollers 14 and the receiving end of the guide structure 18, and'the movable knife 20 is operable automatically at predetermined in napkin lengths.

The knife structure is more specifically illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawings. The movable knife blade 20 is carried by a slide bar 21 which has a rack 22 formed thereon, the said rack being adapted to mesh with the teeth of the interrupted gear 23. The interrupted gear 23 has sufficient peripherial teeth as shown at 24 to engage the rack 22 and move it inwardly at a predetermined time during the operation of the machine for properly cutting the paper into napkin length. The knife 20 and slidebar 21 are returned to their normal positions, immediately after the cutting of the paper by a spring 25 which is coiled about the slide 21 and engages against a washer 26 at the outer end of the slide, and against the guide block 27, which guides the sliding movement of the The interrupted gear 23 is mounted upon the shaft 28, and is rotatable thereby.

Immediately after the paper has been cut in napkin length by movement of the knife 20 the cut napkin is forced between the final which are rotated from the the medium of the shaft 30, and beveled gears 31 and the gears 32. These rollers 29 crease the cut napkin transversely at its transverse center folding it in The cut napkins are fed to the rollers 29 by the feeder 33 which is carried by a slide 34 movable through a suitable guide 35 and the slide 34 is moved, at the proper interval or immediately after the napkin has been cut, by the meshing of the rack 36 formed on the slide, with the peripherial teeth of the interrupted gear .37. The interrupted gear 37 is mounted upon the shaft 28 and is rotated thereby. The feeder 33 moves through an opening 38 in the guide 18, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings and it is returned to its normal position, by means of the spring 39.

The napkins are passed from the rollers 29 into the hanging receivers 40, the lower ends of which are angled, as shown at 41 to receive the napkins. The napkins are taken one at a time from the lower angled ends of the receivers by the arms 42. The arms 42 are disposed staggeredly relative to the retinued movement of downwardly and ceivers 40 and they have their lower ends connected to a movable platform 43 which is supported by links 44. The links 44 are pivotally connected as shown at 45 to a part of the supporting structure 1 of the machine, and an operating link or arm 46 is pivotally connected to the platform intermediate its ends and is connected to a shaft 47 which is adapted to rock the arm 46 to operate the platform 43. The movement of the platform 43 moves the arms 42 in a substantially oval path, moving them upwardly, first so that the folded and completed napkin will be engaged between the upper pointed end 43 of the arms and the finger 49. The finger 49 is pivotally connected to the arms 42 and has a spring 50 connected thereto and to the arm which maintains the finger in napkin receiving position. After the arms move upwardly, between the receivers 40, and receive the napkins, they move outwardly and downwardly, the napkins being released upon the napkin retaining latform 51 which is slotted as shown at 52 to permit the arms 42 to pass downwardly there between and leave the napkin lying flatwise upon the platform. As has been pointed out, the arms 42 are car ried by the platform 43 which is mounted for rotary movement through the medium of the links 44. The fingers 49 are disposed in relation to the upper end of the arms 42 so as to define a substantially V-shaped notch and it is to be understood that if desired, the fingers 49 might be directly connected to the arms 42 instead of in the manner which I have shown and described. At the start of the operation, the platform 43 is disposed substantially horizontal with the links 44 extending rearwardly. By it may be seen that as the platform 43 is caused to move upwardly the arms 42 will also be moved upwardly and at a predetermined point in the travel of the arms, the V-shaped portion defined by the up er end of the arm 42 and the finger 49 wil move into relation with the receivers 40 and will pick up the napkin deposited therein. Conthe platform 43 will carry the arms 42 forwardly and then downwardly and the arms are so disposed that they extend through these slots in the platform 51 and therefore at a predetermined point in the downward travel of the platform 43, the napkin in the substantially V-shaped notch will be deposited on the platform 51. The arms 42 will then continue to travel will then move rearwardly into position such that the above described action will be repeated. A counter 53, of any approved construction is supported by a suitable support 54 and it is connected by means of a rod 55 to a crank arm 56. The crank arm 56 is connected to a worm gear 57 which meshes with a worm 58. The worm 58 is mounted upon the shaft 11 from which the referring to Fig. 2, A

platform 43 is driven and the ratio of the worm wheel 57 and the worm gear 58 is such that the worm wheel 57 will make one complete revolution upon each 50 revolutions of the shaft 11 and consequently upon each 50 movements of the table and napkin forming operations of the napkin forming and folding mechanisms, thereby registering one count upon the counter 53 for each 50 napkins formed and folded. The shaft 11 is driven from the main drive shaft 59 in any suitable manner such as by the worm gear 60, and the main drive shaft 59 is adapted to be driven from a suitable prime mover such as an electric motor or the like through the medium of a pulley 61 and a belt 62, and a mechanism is provided for moving each bundle of 50 formed and folded napkins from the position in which they are deposited by the arms 42 upon the table 51 for delivering them to a suitable bundling mechanism (not shown). This napkin bundling removing mechanism comprises a plurality of arms 64 which are carried by a vertically movable frame 65. The frame 65 is guided in its movement by the supporting frame 66 and it is normally urged downwardly by means of springs 67 so as to hold the arm 64 out of napkin engaging positions. The frame 65 has cap screws 68 carried thereby which travel in slots 69 formed in the guiding frame 66, which cap screws serve to guide and limit the movement of the frame 65 relative to the frame 66. A link 70 is pivotally connected to the sliding frame 65 and this link is in turn pivotally connected to an arm 71 which is pinned upon the shaft 72.

The shaft 72 is carried by the slidable carrying frame 75, which frame is guided in its movement by the guide rods 76. A shaft is rigidly carried by the supporting structure 73 and it is connected by means of a sprocket and chain connection 74 or other suitable power transmitting mechanism to the i shaft 59 to permit the transmission of powor to the shaft 73. The shaft 78 has a gear 77 (Fig. mounted thereon which is adapted to mesh with and move the rack 78 longitudinally when this. rack is brought into position for engagement with the teeth of the gear 77. The rack 78 is in turn slidably carried by a bar 79 which is guided in its -movement by means of the guide pin 80 and slot 81. The bar 79 is connected to the crank arm 56, so that at the proper interval or upon the completion of napkins, the rack 7 8 will be moved into meshing engagement with the gear 77 which is continually ro tating. The rotation of the gear 77 will advance the rack 78 bringing it into mesh with the gear 82 (Fig. 10) mounted upon the shaft 7 2, and this meshing engagement with the gear 82 will rotate the shaft 72 and move the arms 64: upwardly into projected position for engagement with the bundle of napkins-,7 As is clearlyshown inFig. 6 the links 70 and 71 act to transmit movement of the shaft 72 to the slide plate and, therefore, when movement is imparted to the shaft 72 as above set forth the links and 71 will be moved into alignment with each other and become locked and at this time continued movement imparted to the rack 78 will cause the slide frame to be moved forwardly. This will cause the finger 64 to move over the platform 51 and into position for engagement by a suitable bundling mechanism (not shown). As the rack 78 continues, in its movement and the bar 79 also continues in its movement, the rotation of the worm gear 57 at the proper interval will move the bar 79 into position for moving the rack 7 8 out of engagement with the gears 77 and 82, at which time the rack will be returned to its normal position by means of the spring 83 where it will remain until it is again brought into position formeshing engagement with the gear 77 by rotation of the worm gear 57. When the rack 78 is moved out of meshing engagement with the gear 82, the arms 64: and their carrying frame 65 will be returned to their normal downward position by means of the springs 67 and the sliding frame 75 is returned to its normal position by the springs 67.

From the foregoing description takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent, that a machine has been provided which will take napkin forming paper from a roll, fold it, cut it and stack and count them, in an efficient practical manner permitting the production of napkins folded ready for use at a minimum expense and permitting the provision of napkins which have not been touched by human hands.

It is, of course, to be understood that the invention may be constructed in other manners and the parts associated in different relations and, therefore, we do not desire to be limited in any manner except as set forth in the claims hereunto appended.

Having thus described our invention what we claim is:

1. In a napkin forming machine, napkin creasing and folding means, pulling means for pulling the paper over said creasing and folding means, said pulling means comprising a plurality of rollers, endless belts passing about said rollers, and tensioning means for tensioning said belts, guiding means for receiving the folded paper from said pulling means, and a transversely movable knife for cutting the paper into napkin lengths and operable between said pulling means and said guide, means for folding the napkins after cutting, receiving means for receiving the finally folded napkins, and a plurality of movable arms for removing the napkins one at a time from said receiving means.

2. In a napkin formingmachine, napkin l ing about said rollers, and tensioning means for tensioning said belts, guiding means for receiving the folded paper from said pulling means, and a transversely movable knife for cutting the paper into napkin lengths, and operable between said pulling means and said guide, means for folding the napkins after cutting, receiving means for receiving the finally folded napkins, and a plurality of movable arms for removing the napkins one at a time from said receiving means, a receiving table for receiving the napkins from said arms, and means for moving the napkins upon the accumulation of a pre-determined number over said receiving table.

3. In a napkin forming machine, napkin folding" means, napkin cutting means, receiving means for receivin the finally folded napkins, a plurality of arms for removing the napkins from the receiving means, and spring actuated fingers pivotally carried by said arms, and means for moving said arms in a substantially ovalpath.

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures. v

' THOMAS N. DELIGIANES.

ANDREAS BOURDES. 

